


The Spirit of Merry

by qwaszxedc9



Series: A droplet, a splash, then a ripple [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Gen, Nakamaship, OC Story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-12
Updated: 2014-05-12
Packaged: 2018-01-24 12:35:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1605407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/qwaszxedc9/pseuds/qwaszxedc9
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A spirit is within Merry. Not Going Merry herself, but another - an extra, an Otaku. This might just change the Strawhats' futures, the future of One Piece and Going Merry's own as well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yo! Qwaszxedc9 here! XD
> 
> To all those who read my other stories: Sorry, I have just too many plots running around in my head. So i posted another. But don't worry, the others are in working progress.
> 
> To all who read this: Thank you.
> 
> Now, enjoy!
> 
> Beta-ed by: Brunetta6
> 
> (Originally posted on fanfiction.net)

My eyes opened.

Oh my god, it feels like there's a bunch of elephants tap-dancing around in my head…

I thought I died? Wait… I did die! There was even an angel with wings and a halo and everything!

Ok let's pause there. Hi people! I'm Zenadele (my last name, I'm shit-ass not telling my first), or just Zena… and I died. Old news, yes. But bottom line is, I died, at a ripe old - but not that old anyway - age of sixteen. Not even old even to drink or drive or both at the same time, even though that's not really legal. Now, let's get all the introductions down. I have long black hair, black eyes, and I'm pretty much your average otaku girl who just loves One Piece like crazy. And I'm wearing a white dress thanks to the stupid timing of my death.

Now that the introductions are over, back to the story.

I died – old news, yes I know – and I went to heaven – or at least I thought I was heaven. How I died… well… a car crash. Cliché, yes. And that was when I was heading toward my graduation party. Less cliché but cliché anyway, yes.

Now, there was this pretty angel – her name was Josephine I think – who told me that since I died at an 'unfortunate' age of 16, I got to choose what I want be when I reincarnate. She didn't specify, so I immediately yelled – excuse me – asked to go to the world of One Piece, if it existed. She wasn't that surprised at that; I suspect she already knew what I would say. But she frowned anyway, and told me harshly – erm, pardon me – gently, that I was supposed to reincarnate in my own world, as a cat or something. Well, I told her I didn't want to be a cat. I wanted to go to One Piece, the most awesome universe in the world, or universe, or multiverse... Anyway, being a person who believed in parallel universes, I had always wanted to go join the Straw Hat crew and splash ice water on Zoro's head.

So, after much begging – persuasion – she finally gave in. She said, and I quote, "Your next lifespan will be - *static sound* - years. Since you are going over to another universe, you may not become a complete human. That is the price to pay for hopping universes. Your memories will be erased, and you will reincarnate in, as you call it, One Piece world. Any questions?" Then, she waved her arm, and a portal appeared.

I think that last bit was supposed to be for inquires, but I went ahead and asked if I could meet the Straw Hats; just meet, mind you! Not joining the crew! I can be humble too. She sighed.

"Go on, I'll see what I can do about that," she said. I, being overly eager and all, immediately dashed over, and then slipped and fell, legs halfway into the portal, my head slamming into the ground – wait, there's ground? – back first, stars dancing around my eyes.

She must have gotten really impatient or something, because at that moment she stretched her leg and with her heels – angels have high heels? – kicked me, quite ruthlessly I must add, into the portal.

I remember "Ow! That hurt!" and "Ahhh! I'm falling!" and that's about it.

Then my eyes opened.

Why the heck do I remember everything? I thought my memories, and I quote, "will be erased".

This is strange… I stood up – wait, I'm already standing – and looked around.

My otaku senses are tingling…

Wait that's Spiderman. Whatever, but the surroundings look familiar. It's dark and all, but it's really familiar.

…Ding! We have a winner!

Holy shit! That nice kitchen complete with a pretty stove at the corner, the wooden table with two wooden benches at the side, the long stick of a steering wheel with a cute ram figurehead on top smack in the middle of the room, and the oh-so-familiar door just beside the stove – THE GOING MERRY LOUNGE!

Ah, the fangirl feels are coming! The wine rack and stuff are missing, so the crew mustn't have received their ship yet. I feel my tears coming… Thank you, Josephine!

Stop! How did I end up here? I thought reincarnation involved, well, reincarnation, which obviously includes getting pooped out from the other end and being a baby and growing up and shit. I moved toward the door to have a nice look outside. Seriously, how did I get in here?

My hand made a grab toward the doorknob –

And passed right through it.

WHAT?!

Immediately, my hands made multiple, frenzied grabs at the doorknob, only to pass right through each time. WHAT THE SHIT IS HAPPENING?

Wait a second, if I now have some phasing through shit going on, how am I standing here? I glance down and see… my feet floating off the ground. Okay… I can float. Now let's all just calm down and- WHAT THE SHIT?! Is this a devil fruit or something? I need to get out of her first! But how…?

Oh right… Phase through.

I moved toward the door and found myself not banging into the door. Instead, I found myself outside.

It's bright out and all. There's even the seagull squawking. I glanced up. Well, the flag's not black, so Luffy and gang's not here yet.

I moved into cross-legged position, still floating. Wow. So, I must have been dropped at the East Blue arc. I somehow remember everything, when I should have actually forgotten… Well, all the better to fangirl with. I can somehow fly and phase through things… Do I have a devil fruit? Well, there's one way to test.

I move to the railing and glance over, watching the waves frolic around. Then, I jumped over, only realizing two seconds later how stupid that is. But then again I didn't really have to panic since I floated above the water instead. This floating thing was cool. I plunged into the water anyway, and – surprise, surprise – the waves didn't ripple. No sign that I even entered the sea. I tried touching a fish that swam pass, but my fingers just went through it.

I flew out of the water, and back onto Merry.

WHAT THE HELL. THE WAVES DIDN'T RIPPLE. That means I did not have a devil fruit. I would have died just now if I did have one – which I think, was still a stupid decision on my part – but seriously? What the hell power do I have then? Where is it from? Time to test.

I can float, right? That means I can fly, right? So how well can I fly?

I breathed out, then shot straight up toward the sky, only to suddenly stop. It felt like there was this rope around my body, preventing me from going any further. I looked back, and discovered that I was about 1km-ish away from Merry. Turning back, I tried to bypass the something-like-a-blockage by heading toward its right, but it failed. Surprising right? (Sense the sarcasm?)

Huffing, I decided to try every angle and direction possible, and the result: the maximum area I could travel was within a sphere of radius 1km-ish, with respect to Merry.

WHAT. THE. HELL. I'm like bound to the ship or something! What the shit is this?

Suddenly, there was this movement on the shore, and I squealed. IT"S LUFFY TACHI! Fangirl moment. Respect the fangirl moment. *wriggling and squealing in process*

Then it hit me.

Oh shit, what will they do if they notice this random unidentified stranger floating around on their ship? Even if this stranger seemed to be slobbering all over them, which I admit is disgusting, what will they do?

I gasped. Are they going to beat me up? That's… That's… Wonderful. Omigosh! Getting beaten up would be awesome… I sound like some masochist now. Ignore that, just remember that I am a sadist. And proud. But still… I floated down to the five people on the shore. There LUFFY! ZORO! Nami, Kaya, and Merry. So as not to freak them out, I decided to approach them slowly.

They were chattering away, Luffy being dumb not understanding the mechanics of Merry-Go, Nami intervening and asking Merry to explain to her instead. Strangest thing is, they didn't seem to notice me. I think I'm pretty damn inconspicuous. Then, Usopp comes rolling down the hill, stopped by the now-monster duo. Right about now, I got pretty damn tired of being ignored, so I floated in front of Luffy and waved at him, like a chicken flapping its wings.

Did they really not notice me? I'm like in front of them… Luffy suddenly threw his arms forward, and shot onto the ship, right through me.

Here comes the sudden realization.

The floating, phasing, no one noticing my presence, this all screams GHOST! What's next? Ecto-blasts? Ghostly wail? The hell was this, Danny Phantom?! NO, THIS WAS ONE PIECE! C'MON, JOSEPHINE! WE HAD A DEAL!

Still, it wouldn't hurt to try. DP was a pretty awesome cartoon. I concentrated, and tried to focus all my energy onto my hands, and…

Nothing. I guess I'm just a regular, non-cartoon ghost. Honestly? A ghost? Why am I a ghost? You know, 'ghost' doesn't sound nice, I'll go with 'spirit'. So back on topic, why am I a spirit? I need a body to splash ice water on Zoro's head! If there was ever a time for a spirit to cry, this was it!

Focusing back onto the real main characters of the show, I noticed that Usopp was getting onto his little dingy. I floated back onto Merry, and watched as Zoro told Usopp to get on board. Ah, my fangirl feels are out again.

As they were leaving the shore, I floated around the ship, trying to get any of them to notice me, but to no avail. I seemed to phase through everything, and they couldn't see nor hear me. I sighed. It's alright! Optimism! At least I got to see the center of all my fangirling. If I stay – and I probably will, seeing as I'm somehow bound to the ship – I'll get to see all of the crew soon! In like many months… Though Sanji will arrive soon!

Now I think about it, what should I do with Ace? Save him, or not?

Right then, the crew gathered in a circle. I floated above their heads and watched as they poured themselves drinks. I wonder, do I need food? As a spirit?

"Here's to a new ship and new friends! Hooray!"

Hmm, looks like I can understand them. I grinned. Can't wait for the fun arcs to begin~!

* * *

**Reviews are like cookies.**

**They taste good,**

**feel good,**

**make you addicted to them**

**and encourage you to work faster.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A spirit is within Merry. Not Going Merry herself, but another - an extra, an Otaku. This might just change the Strawhats' futures, the future of One Piece and Going Merry's own as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! Qwaszxedc9 here! XD
> 
> Thank you for reading.
> 
> If you think her promise is a little superficial, it's meant to be. Who the heck would actually believe they're really transported into another world without a wake-up call? The wake-up call comes later.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> Beta-ed by: Brunetta6
> 
> (Originally posted on fanficton.net)

I think, Oda-sensei's drawing of the Luffy-drawn pirate flag was pretty spot on. Ugly, lacking design and frightening in its own way.

The rest of the crew agreed with me, even if they didn't know I was there.

Then Usopp graciously offered to help paint, and drew a long-nosed emblem. For which the rest of them knocked him over the back of his head. Well, in the end he drew the Straw Hat emblem onto the black flag; everyone liked it, spirit included. So, they all painted the emblem onto the two flags and the sail. I would have helped, but seeing as they don't know I'm here, plus I phase through everything, I couldn't help much.

I wanted so badly to join the crew… But now I'm stuck with watching them… Maybe that's a good thing; it wouldn't mess up the storyline much, and I would still get to see my idols in live action. A blessing in disguise, I guess.

After they were done with painting, they lazed around. Then, there was that BOOM! By Luffy, from Merry's cannon. That meant that Johnny and Yosaku would be arriving soon. Still, he kept missing. No surprise there. Then Usopp shows off his sniper expertise, and gets named their sniper by Luffy.  **(I'm going with sniper because personally, I think that sharpshooter sounds lame.)**  Then they all migrated into the lounge.

I phased through the walls, and stared at the crew. The East Blue arc was relatively peaceful, I say. Not really much action. The crew seemed to be discussing future crew members, but since I already knew what crew members were coming, I sort of tuned it out. All until Luffy, being as awesome as he is, proclaims that they need a musician for their crew. I sniggered at that, and floated out. Johnny should be arriving any ti-

"COME OUT AND FIGHT, DOGS! I'LL MURDER THE LOT OF YOU!" And there he is.

He kicked the barrels and shit, yelling about stuff, then Luffy came running out, defeated him within seconds, and landed seated on the deck. Zoro came out too and recognised him, and then I noticed that they already broke the railing, within hours of receiving Merry. I sighed. The more they break Merry, the faster her spirit will come out, and the faster I might die. Sigh.

Following the storyline, which I'm sure many of you know, Johnny brought scurvy-ridden Yosaku over, Nami got the idiots to feed him lime juice, the bounty hunting duo introduced themselves, and the crew decided to look for a sea cook. And while all this was happening I was simply floating above them, staring at the sea. At times like this I wonder how people manage to not get freaking bored while travelling. The worst part is that I can't even find anything to amuse myself. Pretending that Zoro has four arms only stays amusing the first few times.

Then, it hit me, why not I train myself? Make myself powerful enough to stand with the future pirate king's crew. Yes, I should do that! That's the only thing worth doing now, seeing as I died already. Almost skull joke…

Maybe I should come up with spirit jokes. Oh, hell with it.

But before I can do any sort of training, I need to be able to touch real objects. Now, that shall be my first goal, touching something; then we can move on to grabbing stuff.

I floated to the front of Merry, just behind the figure head, and began my training – to touch the figurehead; simple enough, yet not as easy as it seems; my hands just keep passing through the wood. I concentrated, and tried again and again and again.

* * *

While I was doing just that, for what must have been a very long time since I lost track of time, they spotted the Baratie. I think I was sweating or something – do spirits sweat? – and I was panting slightly by the time we neared the restaurant. Of course, following the storyline, that cocky Marine Fullbody arrived and did some shit that I ignored – he wasn't that important anyway – then I spotted Nami with Arlong's wanted poster. I have to say I sort of sympathize with her. She lost her mom, surrogate or not, at such a young age, and then was forced into sort of slavery for the fishmen. I'm just thankful and happy for her that she made friends with Hachi later and didn't blame the fishmen. It's good to forgive.

Back to Luffy, the Marine shot a cannonball at us, then Luffy shot it back at Baratie. I have to say, typical. And then, being honest and stupid, he went to apologize to that Chef Zeff.

At this point, if I remember correctly, I'll be able to watch Sanji beat up that cocky Marine! I felt a tingle rush down my spine as I floated onto the restaurant, and headed straight beside the Marine. He was drinking the soup, so I must have missed the wine-thingy. Damn. That would have been funny. Though, watching the Marine as he sneakily flicked a bug into his soup, I have to say… damn. What a waste of soup.

"Waiter!" that Marine called out, crossing his arms as Sanji came over, saying that he's not a waiter.

SANJI'S HERE! OMG Fangirl moment. Sanji is HERE!

I floated around the table, staring at him as he attempted to pick up the lady accompanying the Marine. Ah… Sanji's here… can't wait to see Zoro and Sanji together.

"What's this fly doing in my soup!?" Wait for it…

"Forgive me, Sir. It's hard to tell, but it appears to be the back-stroke." There! That punch-line has been delivered! Fangirl feels coming out, all until Fullbody smashed the table. Ahh… here comes the reign of Sanji's never-waste-food terror! Within seconds, Fullbody was out.

"To offend a cook at sea… is a fool's mistake. Remember that."

All my fangirl feels are out! At times like this is when I feel lucky I'm pretty damn invisible, because I can stand directly beside Sanji and watch him beat Fullbody up without anyone staring at me or Sanji trying to show off. Damn, it's a nice view.

"…And food must never be wasted." Sanji added, with a sharp –handsome – glint in his eyes.

"WHAT!? A C-C-CUSTOMER?!" came a yell from the side. Here comes Patty. Well, the usual started, they began fighting, then shit happened and Sanji threatened to "close Fullbody down", then Luffy and Chef Zeff came crashing through the ceiling, and they all start fighting.

Right then, a random marine rushed into the restaurant, says some shit, and died after getting shot by Gin. Yes, enter Gin. I always liked him. Though, his loyalty is to the wrong man. He should have joined, like… the Whitebeard crew instead. They could use loyal people like him. Anyway, Gin came in, got beaten up, thrown out, then given food by Sanji.

Well, Luffy found his cook, and I'm off to return to the rest of the crew. I really need to learn to touch stuff. I want to help the Strawhats! So badly…

Guess I have to train myself a lot before I can do anything. First off, touching things.

I floated back into the restaurant, and spotted the crew at a table, and flew above them. They were eating, and I kind of wanted to eat as well. But no matter what I tried, I couldn't grab hold of even a freaking grain of rice. Fine! I didn't feel that hungry anyway.

Still, I have to try and touch things, so I continued my attempts at touching the clear glass of water. I still couldn't touch the glass, but I could FEEL some progress. Yes, FEEL some progress. Sooner or later, I would be able to touch things! Maybe before heading into the Grand Line?

Anyway, Luffy soon came out of the kitchen, I'd imagine he was kicked out… No, didn't need to imagine. He spotted the crew and well, reacted, which included him picking his nose and flicking said shit into the very some glass of water I was trying to touch. No way am I touching that glass again. Zoro picked up the glass, and I was already giggling as much as the others were, not at Luffy's actions but at Zoro's actions to come.

"You drink it!" Zoro shouted while forcing Luffy to drink his own booger-contaminated water. At that point, I was flying circles in the air, laughing at this hilarious scene.

"O sea, how grateful I am for this day of days!" And here comes this womanizing chef.

I want him to swoon over me! But, I'm invisible, and intangible, and so… ugh.

"…Such tragedy! The obstacles between us are great!" And a continuation of swooning that I'm just ignoring for now. I think I'm getting used to this watching over the Strawhats thing, seeing as I've got one part down, the watching over them part, or floating over them.

"Obstacles, Sanji?"

The great Chef Zeff comes. I have to say, I quite like Chef Zeff. He does love Sanji, no matter what he says to the contrary, and he takes care of him, minus the kicking him over the head parts. All in all, a great person. "Follow your heart. Go be a pirate. I don't need you here anymore," he said. Sheesh, this is going to take a while. If I remember correctly, it'll be two or three days before Krieg comes. I guess I'll make myself comfy now. And continue my touch-something training.

"Hey shit-geezer, I'm the assistant chef here. What do you mean, I'm not needed?"

And I think I don't have to listen anymore, I already know what's going to happen anyway. Plus I'm gonna have to wait two or three days before Krieg comes, might as well start my touch-something training. I floated back to Merry, and faced the back of the ram figurehead. Concentrating, I tried to touch the wood, feel the hard surface, the slightly rough texture, and... I failed again. I sighed, and tried again.

* * *

Two days later, I figured out – I did not need to sleep. That was an absolute surprise to me. I didn't feel sleepy, nor did I need to sleep. I just… don't. I guess that I might be able to sleep if I wanted to, I just didn't need it. Wow.

Regarding my touch-something training (I'd like to see you come up with a better name.), I can FEEL improvement. I can FEEL something there. It's just not there yet, and I'm still phasing through the figurehead. For instance, I CAN feel a slight bit of substance now when I try to touch things, like some glue of sorts. Though, I am still able to phase through things without resistance if I wanted to. This might actually prove to be a useful power. If – no WHEN I master it.

I looked up at the restaurant, and spotted Don Krieg entering with Gin. How did I not notice the flagship sail near is a mystery. Well, that means they came in two days, now I'll just wait for Nami to come out and steal the ship. And then watch the long awaited Zoro VS Mihawk! KYAAA All my fangirl feels are coming!-

Wait… if Nami steals the ship…

That means I can't watch Zoro VS Mihawk! NOOOO WTF! I want to watch that battle! Will the ship be too far away by then? Nooo! What is this?!

I floated to the look-out, and watched as Nami came on board and pushed both bounty hunters off the ship. Then, she sailed it away, and I felt my heart shatter. The Zoro VS Mihawk fight… *sobs*

Watching the Baratie shrink in the distance, I could make out panicky little shapes on the deck of the restaurant. Guess they found out. Then, I saw that coffin shaped ship approaching… Damn… the fight I'm going to miss! After Nami had adjusted everything correctly, set the sails right and checked the compass direction, she headed to the front of the deck, staring into the distance.

"What a swell bunch of guys." I floated beside her, watching her.

"If we meet again, I hope they'll let me sail with them," she continued. I couldn't really say much, seeing as she couldn't see me anyway, or hear me for that matter.

"I hope we meet again!" she whisper-yelled into the distance, tearing up. I floated off the side awkwardly. What the hell do I do now? She can't hear me anyway even if I tried to comfort her.

"I can't wait to be free, Bellemere!" She was really sobbing now. I really didn't know what to do here, being a spirit and all. So, I did the best thing I could think of, hugging her. I tried to. Honestly, she kept slipping through my fingers. (No pun- wait. Pun intended.) I wrapped my arms around her, floating off the ground as I tried to 'give off' comfort by hugging. I couldn't touch her properly, she kept slipping through my arms, but hey, it's the thought that counts.

She suddenly froze, and looked behind, in doing so completely slipped out of my 'hug'. Then she looked up, down, left, right. Did she feel my presence? Wait, did she at least feel my 'comfort'? I was trying!

"Bellemere...?" She barely whispered it, but I heard it. Sigh, now she thinks the presence was her dead mom. Doesn't matter, I'll just continue giving 'comfort'. I returned to hugging her. She tensed up slightly, glancing around, then relaxed. Obviously, she must have felt my presence before, but right now I'm not too sure.

She sniffed and sobbed while I just floated beside her, trying to 'give off' comfort. I think it's working.

* * *

Within a couple of hours Nami docked the ship. I, being annoyingly bound to the ship, could only follow her until the doorway of Arlong Park before I had to stop. Seriously?

I floated back to the ship, and stared into the distance. How long before the rest of them arrive? I'm not very sure actually. Oh well, back to my touch-something training.

Looking in the distance, I saw Zoro and gang sailing over. Seeing as he has all those bandages all over his check, I missed the epic Zoro VS Mihawk battle… I guess I won't be able to participate in any fights; I need to touch the shit I want to hit before I can even do anything. So I'll just watch. Oh they tied Zoro up… Then they fled, leaving Zoro at the mercy of the fishmen. Usopp! Johnny! How could you? Oh well, he doesn't die anyway so it's fine.

I watched from the look-out as the fishmen took Zoro away, and headed back to my training.

* * *

Oh, Moomoo's so cute. I continued my training.

* * *

There was a huge wave, and Luffy and gang and their ship was launched high into the air. By my memories, they land directly on Zoro. Awesome. After around an hour, I decided to fly as high and as near as I could to Arlong Park. I wanted to watch the Strawhat's first 'boss fight' so damn badly. The nearest I got was still quite far, but near enough.

They marched down the path, looking just that awesome, and I was giggling by myself, 20 or 30 metres in the air. Damn it's awesome.

* * *

And the most epic punch of this arc is thrown at Arlong! Squeal!

* * *

Soon, all their battles were fought, and because I already knew the outcome, I wasn't too worried. Although that bloody chest of Zoro's looked pretty damn bad. I think if I were in his position I would have already kneeled over. Good thing I'm not in his position.

"NAMI! YOU'RE ONE OF US NOW!"

And there's the yell signaling the end of the entire fight. I think my eyes might have become slightly moist from seeing everything happening real life. I have to say, it's far more touching in real life.

And the cherry on top is when they beat up Nezumi and his goons. Dumb marines they are.

The rest of them ran back to the village to spread the good news. The crew went to the village to treat their injuries, Zoro 'screaming' in agony all the while.

* * *

When night fell, the village partied. There was so much music, laughter, fun and joy that I couldn't help but smile at it, while in the air.

Since the village was some distance away from Merry, I could only watch from above. At times like this I feel like some guardian angel. A guardian angel that can't touch anything, much less protect. I got to do something about that. At least I'm making some progress, I think. I didn't really feel that left out. I already knew what happened and what will happen. They can't see me anyway. I just felt… quite… I can't really think of a feeling to describe it. Between utter joy at my favorite characters winning and slight despair at being away from the celebrations, I can't really say I feel left out. Perhaps slightly lonely, but that's about it. I've got to be able to touch things soon, being an onlooker is boring.

* * *

Come morning, I floated around the deck, watching the villagers load supplies and belongings and stuff into the Merry. Good thing they couldn't see me or they'll probably freak out. But with all this hustle and bustle I couldn't even do my touch-something training, so I was left with no choice but to wait for these villagers to finish and get off.

Within an hour they were all ready to set off. The villagers had gathered around the beach to bid farewell to–

"SET SAIL NOW!" And here comes the epic goodbye to the village. Nami raced through the crowds of people and leaped onto the Merry. The villagers were bewildered, but not for long. They switched from bewildered to shock to frustration when she lifted her shirt slightly and dropped off all the stolen wallets onto the deck.

"Take care, everybody. Hee!"

"SHE TRICKED US!" all the villagers screamed in unison. Ah, the power of bonds. What a bonded village.

The screams changed from "YOU THEVING CAT!", "COME BACK HERE!", "GIVE US BACK OUR WALLETS!" to "Come back soon!" "Take care!" "We're grateful to you all!" What a sweet village. I floated around at the top, watching the village wave at the pirates.

"BYE, EVERYBODY! I'LL BE BACK!" She was laughing and smiling while screaming that, and I recalled the crying mess she was just a day or two ago. I think I prefer this cunning cat to that crying mess. I smiled at that, and floated back to the front of the deck.

Time to continue my touch-something training.

* * *

"We're wanted dead or alive! They say we're worth 30 million berries!"

I was jolted out of my concentration by Luffy's shout. I'm certain my touch-something training has helped a lot. I can at least feel some resistance when I phased through something I was trying to touch. Still can't touch, but I'm working on it. Seriously, why did it take so long for me to be able to just TOUCH something? Why can't it be like those anime filled with plot-armor and then I'll be able to suddenly shoot lasers from my hands or something. It'll be so much easier to have fun in this One Piece world. Instead, I'm stuck with training myself before I can even participate in any cool battles.

Well, seeing as I'm practically non-existent, I'm stuck with watching from the side lines. Sigh.

Anyway, the crew decided to head into Loguetown, and I'll be stuck on this ship, not able to watch all those epic battles that will happen out of my flying range. Sigh. Oh well.

* * *

I continued with my touch-something training. All until I was disturbed by a strange looking person on a lion. Oh, that's Mohji and Richie. Be proud of the extent of my fangirl-lism. I even remember the names of minor characters! I'll probably forget them soon, seeing as I can't reread any mangas here…

"… It's our job to burn his ship," he chuckled. I floated down to watch him try to burn the ship. Right now, I wonder, can I blow out that tiny flame on his match? I moved closer, and tried to blow the flame out. I blew and blew, until the storm came and put out what I couldn't, which was sad.

So, I discovered something new, my breath goes through everything like every part of me. Sigh. Well, Usopp got rid of them, even if he was being cowardly and all.

I floated back up to the ship, and waited for the rest of them to come. The saddest part here is that I missed the Luffy-smiling-before-getting-almost-executed part and the Zoro-showing-Kitetsu III-who's-boss part. Those were awesome parts, but thanks to me being bound to Merry, and the fact that the buildings here are so damn high, I missed those parts… At least I saw them in my past life. I can still remember clearly. For now.

I wonder if I'll ever see Josephine again. Maybe she'll be able to give me a body. Being a spirit sucks sometimes. I still haven't managed to dump ice water onto Zoro's head!

Zoro, Luffy, and Sanji climbed on board, and the entire crew was on board. I floated above them, and watched as Sanji brought out a barrel.

"Okay, let's launch this ship onto the great ocean!" Sanji placed the barrel directly in the middle of the crew.

"I'm going to find All Blue." Sanji's leg went down.

"I'm gonna be King of Pirates!" Luffy's leg went down.

"I'm going to be the World's Greatest Swordsman!" Zoro's leg went down.

"I'm going to draw a map of the World!" Nami's leg went down.

"I'm going to become a Brave Warrior of the Sea!" Usopp's leg went down, slightly shaky.

I watched these five Strawhats place their legs on the barrel, and smiled. I floated down, and placed my leg onto the barrel.

"I will train, and fight for my favorite characters, with all my spirit!" I whisper-shouted.

I will complete my training, and learn to touch shit, then grab shit, then hit shit. Then I can help them, and have fun with my new life. I kind of like Ace as a character, so I'll try my best to save him, as well as Whitebeard.

This is my role now. My favorite characters need their 'Guardian Angel'!

At that moment, the crew slammed their feet down.

"GRAND LINE, HERE WE COME!" And they smashed the barrel.

That reminds me; I made my first spirit joke. Yohohohoho.

* * *

**Reviews are like cookies.**

**They taste good,**

**feel good,**

**make you addicted to them**

**and encourage you to work faster.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A spirit is within Merry. Not Going Merry herself, but another - an extra, an Otaku. This might just change the Strawhats' futures, the future of One Piece and Going Merry's own as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! Qwaszxedc9 here! XD
> 
> I'm gonna start speeding toward Alabasta, the toward Skypiea, and Enies Lobby. Because as you can see, until Zena gains the ability to touch, it's gonna be pretty boring. She'll gain that ability through hard work, so no worries. I can promise it'll be more interesting later!
> 
> Where do you think she will gain the ability to touch? (Author's question to readers!)
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> Beta-ed by: Brunetta6
> 
> (Originally posted on fanfiction.net)

The next couple of days were reeeeeally boring. All I did was float around, train and watch the crew panic. They went up reverse mountain, met Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday, whom we all know is Vivi, met Laboon, decided their course and are currently panicking through the eccentricities of the Grand Line.

"Crap, the sail's tearing!" Usopp yelled from the side, Nami struggling with the rope, and Sanji pushing against the helm with all his might.

Of course, I am not demeaning Laboon's awesome friendship and loyalty. At least I know that the Rumbar Pirates didn't abandon him. Brook's probably floating around the Florian Triangle right this moment.

"You're free! Go up there and fix it somehow!" Nami yelled back, straining against the rope.

Somehow I just can't get myself to panic.

I focused, blocking out (or at least trying to) all the shrieking and screaming around me as I floated in front of the main mast, the wild jerking and swaying of Going Merry hardly affecting me at all. I reached forward, attempting to feel that supposedly woody, rough, hard surface of the soft-brown wood. It felt like some gluey substance, and my hand slipped through again.

"We've sprung another leak below deck!" Miss Wednesday shouted, squatting down to glance below deck.

"Shit!" Usopp cursed, rushing toward her.

I breathed out, gathering focus again. I suppose it's due to the fact that I know they'll be just fine, that I'm not panicking. Any normal person would be panicking right now.

Though I'm not really a person. Ohhh… (partial) spirit joke.

My hand reached forward, trying to land on the surface, and failed again.

And again. The sky suddenly cleared.

And again.

"Oi oi, aren't you guys being a little lazy on a nice day like this?"

The great Zoro-sama has finally awakened from his beauty sleep. I paused my touch-something training to glance over and watch this good show I remembered. "You know where we're headed, right?" he continued, nonchalantly glancing around. You could feel all the waves of murderous aura leaking out of the other crewmates sprawled flat on the deck in various positions, as well as the visible veins popping in their foreheads.

Oh, didn't notice they stopped panicking. "Oh? Why are you two on board?" he asked, glancing over to the mysterious pair sprawled on the ground.

"We're heading toward their town, Whisky Peak." Luffy answered for them, seated on the railing, the only one not sprawled on deck.

"We're giving them a lift?" Zoro asked, glancing over to him, hands casually tucked into his pockets. "It's not like we owe them anything."

"Yeah, nothing," Luffy agreed, smiling.

"Well, it's not like I care," Zoro replied, turning back to the pair, then squatting down to stare at them face to face. Yes yes yes, this moment~!

"These two look like faces that have nasty ideas," the oh-so-evil swordsman smirked, narrowing his eyes at them. "What were your names again?"

Those two looked as if they were about to wet their pants. Though in their defense, Zoro did look very scary. But that's just what I love about him~! *fangirl squeals*

"P-please call me Mr. 9," the supposed Mr. 9 answered, stuttering.

"I-I'm Miss Wednesday," the disguised princess stammered out, eyebrow twitching.

"Really?" Zoro asked, hand on his chin, still smirking at the pair. "I've been thinking about those names since I first heard them."

Those two looked like they were going to shit their pants, with their wide eyes, sweating foreheads, and clenched teeth. Zoro continued anyway, grinning wider, "Maybe I've heard them before… Or maybe I haven't…"

A very loud gasp came from both of them, but almost immediately after there was a huge BOINK! From Nami's fist connecting with Zoro's head.

"WAH!" Zoro's head slammed into the ground, then bounced back up. Nami was behind him, fist clenched tightly, veins popping at her forehead, dark, malicious shadows over her face. OMG this is so funny, I don't even feel sorry for Zoro.

"YOU," she growled, almost visible fire surrounding her frame, fist clenched even tighter, eyebrow twitching. "I hope you enjoyed that little nap of yours… Snoring away no matter how we tried to wake you…"

BANG! BOINK! CRASH!

Zoro was presented a special edition triple decker ice-cream scoop on the back of his head, all swelling red and throbbing. He gripped his head tensely as his eyes almost turned bloodshot. I snorted, and laughed, and choked a little, and laughed again. This is way funnier in real-life action as compared to the anime. "Stay on your toes, everyone! Who knows what might happen next?" Nami said, addressing the crew. I floated to the top, scanning across the mist. It was slightly blurry but there was no mistake.

Whisky Peak. They reached it.

I floated back down.

"The first leg of our journey is complete!" Nami exclaimed, the rest cheering.

I smiled. Finally, something interesting was happening.

"Bye bye baby!" the pair had somehow hopped onto the railing and then into the water, but I couldn't care less.

"There they go…" Nami mumbled, watching the pair swim to shore.

"Who were they?" Usopp asked, almost to himself, also watching the pair swim.

"Who cares? We're here!" Luffy said excitedly, hopping on his seat, not at all watching the pair, instead grinning at the island they were about to raid.

I floated off the deck, flying through the mist and approaching the island before any of the crew. The island and its inhabitants were in sight, all lined up at the shore, pointing and fingering at the approaching ship, some hiding their weapons and stuff in a hurry.

"Hey, it's coming."

"I wonder how much they'll be worth." Hmm… I already knew this was a den of bounty hunters, so this doesn't surprise me one bit.

"Let's make them feel very welcome." Well, at least now I know some hidden scenes in One Piece.

"Yeah, let's. Heheheheh…"

"Shush, they reaching." I can see Going Merry approaching…

"Everyone, ready…"

"WELCOME TO THE GRAND LINE!" they yelled, cheering and waving their arms around. "To the town of celebration, Whisky Peak!"

"Pirate ship! Welcome!"

"Long live heroes of the sea!"

And soon the entire crew is swept into the party and celebration, leaving me alone out here, at the shore, with Going Merry. ALONE.

ALONE, DAMMIT!

I floated on deck, and landed on the main mast. Seriously! I want to hit them all for leaving me alone here. Though I can't really blame them, since I don't exist and all. But I'm still pissed.

Breathing out, I concentrated again, and reached out. And failed. Again.

There was a swish near Merry, and I paused my training yet again to glance at the side, only to spy Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine docking their little ship. Well, more behind the scenes~!

* * *

A couple of explosions, screams, shouts, a really huge explosion and a long, long while later, a huge duck hopped on board. I spotted that big, yellow bird as soon as it hopped on, and almost immediately after, Zoro hopped on. Then Miss Wednesday and Nami, or Vivi and Nami started shouting about the bird, Carue, until Zoro pointed out the stupid bird on board. At the corner of the ship, I spotted an eye sprouting on the wall, hidden in the shadows. Hmm? So Robin's arriving?

Then a whole bunch of panicking, sailing procedures and stuff later, they pushed off and sailed through the fog, Sanji and Usopp both unconscious from Nami's 'explanations'. Nobody even noticed the huge turtle pulling up at the side, or Robin climbing up, sprouting limbs as a ladder, though I did, as I was floating above. I even watched as Miss All Sunday strolled – STROLLED – toward the railing and sat on it. Wow. Oblivious much?

"It's a good thing you got away from your pursuers." Enter….. ROBIN~!

"It sure is." Nami answered, completely clueless as to whom she was answering. Watching from above, I could actually see how easily they could have been killed.

"Watch out for the shallows so that you don't strike the hull." Robin said again. Seriously, the Straw Hat crew depends so much on luck. Although, I already know they'll be just fine.

"You can count on me!" Nami said, beaming proudly. It's so funny how oblivious they are, I can't even laugh. "Ah… was that you, Luffy…?"

Finally she notices.

Luffy just cocked his head.

"Nice ship," Miss All Sunday commented, fingers caressing her chin.

Gasps resound across the ship. "Who's that?!" Zoro exclaimed, reaching for his swords. Watching this from real-life, I can kind of see how careless and clueless they were. I know they'll become cool afterwards, but the starting is always so awkward. They could have been killed, seriously!

"You! You're-"

"I saw Mr. 8 not too long ago," Robin commented, smiling. "Miss Wednesday."

"You killed Igaram!"

"Even if you did, why the hell are you on my ship?" Luffy shouted, pointing up at Robin. I floated beside Robin, to get a better look.

"What are you doing here?!" Vivi shouted, panting slightly, "Miss All Sunday?!"

"Miss All Sunday? Whose number partner is that?" Nami asked turning toward Vivi. Robin looks good in that attire. Purple really suits her.

"Mr. 0's, the boss' partner," Vivi answered, clenching her fists.

"Crocodile's?!" Nami screamed, hair standing on ends. Seriously, waaay to put yourself on the wanted list, especially in front of the supposed boss' partner. Wasn't she supposed to be the smartest? I honestly think I'm losing memories or forgetting stuff, because I don't really remember exactly how this scene played out, only the important bits.

"So, she's a bad guy?"

"She is the only one allowed to know the boss' true identity!" Vivi explained, narrowing her eyes. "We followed her to find out the boss' true identity."

"Or to be more precise, I let you follow me," Miss All Sunday corrected, her lips locked in an amused smile. I floated above her, just beside her head, in a lying down, relaxed position.

"So, she a good guy," Luffy concluded.

"I knew that!" Vivi shouted, fists clenched even tighter. "And then the one who informed him of us discovering was you, wasn't it?!"

"Correct," Robin stated calmly.

"So she is a bad guy," Luffy concluded again.

"Just what exactly are your intentions?!" Vivi screamed.

"Who knows?" Robin replied, closing her eyes. "You were so earnest about it, I just had to cooperate. A princess who actually thinks she can make enemies of Baroque works and save her country. It's just so ridiculous."

"SHUT UP!" Vivi screamed, and at that moment, the crew aside from Luffy all readied their weapons at Robin. Where did that gun pop out from? I'm sure Sanji doesn't even use it.

"Oi, Sanji," Usopp said, slingshot pointed at Miss All Sunday. "Do you know what's going on?"

"Not at all," Sanji replied, gun cocked at Robin's head. "But it seems that my lovely Miss Wednesday is in danger."

"Would you mind," Robin said, as she bloomed arms and threw both Sanji and Usopp over the railing, "not pointing those dangerous items at me?"

"A devil fruit?!"

"What kind of ability is that?!" Obviously, they didn't notice the arms blooming here and there. Maybe it's because I'm actually looking out for arms that I noticed it.

"WHOA, she's a beautiful lady!" Sanji's womanizing kicks in. Say, why did he point that gun at her? I still haven't figured it out, even from when I was alive. Wasn't there some policy to never attack women he followed? Though, he didn't really attack Robin, per say, just threatened her… Sort of.

"Really, don't be in such a rush. I'm not under any orders at the moment, so I have no reason to fight you," Robin said, blooming a hand to throw the one and only straw hat toward her. "So, you are the famous Straw Hat captain, Monkey D Luffy?"

"OI! GIVE BACK HAT!" Luffy shouted, swinging his arms around wildly, clenching his teeth. "YOU WANNA FIGHT?!"

"You're not wanted so get of our ship, jerk!" Usopp whispered through a microphone from his hiding sport behind the mast.

"What bad luck," Robin commented, placing the Straw Hat gently on her head, before wringing her hands on her knees. "You pirates picking up a princess that Baroque Works wants dead, and that princess being protected by such a small number of pirates." If I could touch things, I would just flick both hats onto the ground.

"But your worst luck of all, is where that log pose is pointing, Little Garden." She continued, almost smirking. I reached forward to try and touch the hats, but my fingers went through anyway. Sigh. "You will never make it to Alabasta, you'll all be eliminated."

"I DON'T CARE! GIVE BACK HAT!" Luffy yelled, swinging his clenched fist as a monkey would.

"Rushing toward a place where you'll all die, doesn't that sound awfully foolish?" Robin said, throwing something at Vivi, and Luffy's hat back to Luffy. Come on, foolish would be Luffy's middle name, if it started with an F. D probably stood for dumbass.

"Eternal pose…"

"With that, you can avoid Little Garden. It points to the Island of Nothing, just short of Alabasta." Robin explained plainly. "Since none of our members know about this route, you won't be followed."

"What? She's helping us?" Nami asked, bewildered.

"Why are you doing this?!" Vivi screamed.

"I wonder," Robin replied. Then, Luffy walked over and took the eternal pose from Vivi.

"Who gives a crap?" Luffy said, before crushing the eternal pose, then getting wacked over the head by Nami.

"ARE YOU AN IDIOT?! She just told us the best way to go! What if she was trying to help us?! Then what?!" Nami screamed over Luffy's form, lying down on the deck.

"She's not deciding what route we take!" Luffy answered, scowling.

"Oh, how unfortunate," Robin said, slowly sitting up, and getting on her feet. "Well, I don't hate those with high spirits. If you survive, may we meet again."

I floated behind her as she moved toward the railing. Somehow I had this inexplicable urge to grab her hat, even though I knew I would fail. So I did. It felt like threading my finger through honey, and I failed yet again in grabbing the hat. That purple hat.

Though, I succeeded in simply making the hat fall off her head, gliding down to land gently on the ground. I guess that is an accomplishment! I haven't got touching stuff down yet, but now at least I can pull stuff along! I feel so much more confident now! At least a wee bit more confident… Sigh. Why can't I be like those kind of Mary-Sue characters, who mysteriously gain incredible powers and stuff? AT LEAST IT WON'T BE SO BOOOOORING…

Robin seemed to have frozen, for a couple of seconds, before she picked up her fallen hat again, and jumped onto the turtle. "Let's go, Banchi."

Then the entire crew crowded around to watch the turtle go, and exclaim at its incredible-ness. I got to, and I MEAN HAVE TO learn to touch things SOOOOOON. ASAP! I can't even talk to these great characters I'm protecting! Sigh.

I floated back to the mast, blocked out the noises around me (or attempted to), and continued my training.

* * *

The next week or two consisted of training, normal traveling, training, landing on Little Garden, getting off Little Garden, almost getting eaten by a giant goldfish, training, Zoro doing his own training at the back end of Going Merry while telling himself he was weak, and Nami getting sick, then everyone but Zoro retreating into the cabin to watch Nami..

All in all, it's going as I remembered from when I was alive. I remembered Nami getting sick from some five-day disease, and then Chopper comes~! If I remember correctly, she was bitten by some bug.

OOOOHH! Choppy's coming~!

I kind of forgot how they got to Drum Island in the first place, or is it Sakura Island now?

I paused my training, and floated into the cabin to watch the crew. "…may even be life-threatening," Vivi warned. I think I missed the first part.

Oh. OH. Bad move, telling them Nami's real condition. It was as if some panic button was pushed.

"AHHHH! NAMI'S GONNA DIE?!" Luffy shrieked, hopping up and down in panic, sweating buckets.

"GYAAAAAHHHH!" Usopp screamed, he and Carue both running around like frenzied, headless chickens.

"WAHHHHHHH!" Sanji was wiggling, howling, crying waterfalls of tears.

"PULL YOUSELVES TOGETHER AND CALM DOWN!" Vivi shrieked at the hysterical trio. It was really comical. I wasn't panicking at all, so it was quite funny to watch.

"WE GOTTA FIND A DOCTOR!" Luffy shrieked, eyes bloodshot and flailing around. "WE GOTTA SAVE NAMI!"

"I got it, so please calm down!" Vivi said, frowning and hands up in a placating motion. "You're going to disturb her!"

"No," Nami mumbled from her bed. Suddenly there was silence in the cabin. Complete silence.

"Nami-san…?" Vivi asked, watching as Nami slowly struggled to sit up. Somehow, watching these events as they happen makes me feel so detached from this situation. Honestly, it's really boring, even though I'm seeing Nami in pain all flushed and red and everyone around panicking, I don't feel worried. Is that bad? I already know that Nami will be fine… I think I should feel frightened or something...?

"Ohh, she's cured!" Luffy exclaimed, smiling.

"No, she's not!" Usopp said, bonking Luffy's head.

"…In my desk drawer… there's a newspaper…" Nami said, eyes on the mentioned drawer. Vivi turned toward the drawer, reached into it and pulled out the newspaper.

"No…" she mumbled, clenching tightly onto the newspaper. "This can't be true…"

"Hey, what is it?" Luffy asked.

"Is it about Alabasta, Vivi-chan?" Sanji asked, glancing over to the newspaper.

"300,000 Imperial soldiers have defected to join the rebel army." Vivi recited, facial feature growing more horrified by the second. "At the outset, there were 600,000 Imperial soldiers suppressing 400,000 rebels. But, in one stroke, the odds have…!"

"Now the rebellion in Alabasta will start to gain momentum." Nami said, panting heavily through her deeply flushed and pale face. "That paper's from three days ago. Sorry. Even if I showed it to you, it wouldn't change the ship's pace. I thought it would cause you more stress, so I hid it."

Even though Vivi has this really horrified look on her face, and the newspaper has so many bloody pictures on it, I still don't feel upset or anything. Have I become emotionless? No, I'm happy about seeing Chopper soon. I'm just feeling so –…how would you call it…? – removed from this situation – detached of sorts...

"Do you understand, Luffy?" Nami asked, now addressing Luffy weakly.

"I got the impression things are bad," Luffy concluded, nodding.

"Good, you picked up more than I thought you would," Nami said, breathing out deeply.

"Oi… But if we don't get you to a doctor soon…" Usopp started, but was interrupted

"It's alright, that thermometer is just broken. No one can have a temperature of 40°C," Nami reasoned, pulling of the blanket and attempting to climb off the bed. "It's probably just a bit of heatstroke."

Dear Nami, heatstroke can be dangerous too – this coming from Zenadele the certified first-aider (when I was alive). Yes, it can get dangerous.

"I don't need to see a doctor; it'll go away by itself." Nami continued, standing up and walking toward the door, waving a hand. "Let's just head straight for Alabasta as planned."

Nami paused, and looked behind. "Thanks for worrying about me," she murmured, then climbed up the stairs like nothing was wrong.

I floated up with her, through the roof. Once she was through the roof, she collapsed toward the wall, panting deeply. She didn't look so good. I would help with her fever, but I'm shitty damn intangible. I floated back on deck, and continued my own shitty training. I STILL CAN"T TOUCH MY SHIT. SERIOUSLY? WHY?

I mostly ignored everything around me, even Nami running out to get the crew to change the ship's direction, and a cyclone hitting the spot the ship was at previously. Even really under the weather, Nami's navigation is excellent as ever. Unlike my damn touch-something training.

"We're going to find a doctor!" Luffy yelled out to the crew, pumping his fist into the air.

"AYE!" the crew yelled back.

Man, this is boring.

* * *

Soon, snow started falling. And I made a new discovery! Cold slips right through me, just like everything else. Yippee. I don't even feel cold. YAY. (DO YOU SENSE THE SARCASM IN THERE?)

Man, being in One Piece world isn't really as interesting and fun as I thought it would be. Those fanfiction stories on do not even come close to the boredom I feel now. THEY'RE ALL HAPPILY TALKING TO THEIR FAVE CHARACTERS, pranking Zoro or something. Even if they can't speak Japanese and there's a supposed language barrier, AT LEAST THEY'RE TALKING!

I guess there isn't any sort of language barrier here; they're speaking in English for some reason. Maybe they hear it as Japanese, but I hear it as English? I'm now a spirit, after all. I'm not sure what kind of rules apply to me.

I was jerked out of my training when the ship started shaking harshly. It wouldn't affect me, but don't sick people need a lot of GOOD rest? A shaky environment is hardly good rest.

There was this huge submarine thing surfacing, then the metal thingy broke apart, and revealed a ship. Oh it's a ship. With a stupid hippo figure head. Well, the only submarine I remembered was Trafalgar Law's. I was wondering why this didn't jog my memory. Is this a filler?

And then a whole bunch of people hopped onto the ship, pointing all their guns. One of them even stood at the place I did, right on ME! I won't feel it, but it's horrible to stand on people! I immediately flew up and floated above to watch. The people in green coats marched quickly onto the ship, and still managed to GET INTO FORMATION before pointing their rifles at the crew. Wonder why they didn't fight back when Merry was invaded. Seriously, just kick them off!

"OI! What's going on?!" Sanji came bursting out of the door, then stopped.

He calmly lit a cigarette, blew it, letting the end glow, then looked back up. "Well, you gonna answer me?"

"We're being attacked." Luffy answered calmly, turning to look at Sanji. Seriously, only Luffy can pull that calm, clueless look off. "Our ship, that is."

"Yeah, that's what I thought." Sanji said, tapping on his cigarette to flick the ashes off. "From the looks of it."

NOW I REMEMBER. This isn't a filler, this is the scene where that stupid hippo guy, Wapol, tries to eat Going Merry, and then gets thrown off. Well, this scene wasn't all that important to me, but here, in real-life, it's actually more interesting than the other times, seeing as the ship actually got invaded, and that I'm on the ship. Or stuck on it.

"Are you lowlifes really pirates? *munch munch* You're just a bunch of weirdoes," The stupid hippo Wapol said, chewing on his meat, then his knife and the meat on it. Now, this is a real life example of pot calling the kettle black. Everyone, please learn from this humble experience. "Looks like there are *munch munch* four of you. No matter how I look at it, *munch* that's just not enough for a pirate crew."

Watching the guy chew down a sharp, pointy knife is actually more disturbing in real life. I almost cringed. The crew however, just cringed visible.

"What's with this guy?" Luffy asked, cringing at the hippo idiot's chewing. "He's eating a knife."

"Ah… It hurts just watching him." Usopp winced, sweating profusely, both arms raised high in surrender.

"Ah well, might as well ask," the hippo Wapol continued, still chewing. "We're headed toward Drum Kingdom. *munch* Would you happen to have an eternal pose or log pose with you?"

"Ain't got one," Sanji answered, "never heard of that place either."

"There! That's all, right?" Luffy said, turning to face Wapol. "Get outta here already, we're in a hurry. We've got no time to waste with you."

"Ah… Don't rush so much. If you don't have one, that's that," Hippo dumbass said, waving his arm around. "However, we'll be taking your treasure and your ship."

"Eh?" What's so surprising about that?

"But before that." Wapol continued, shaking a little. "I'm feeling a mite peckish."

Then he swung his head over to the side, opened his mouth really wide, and bit into Going Merry's railings, tearing out a large piece of Merry's railings like meat, then chewing on it.

"What the hell is he?!" Usopp exclaimed, voice cracking. Seriously, Usopp, you're on a ship with a rubber human who probably eats as much as a munch-munch human does, if not more, and you're surprised?

"Don't eat our ship!" Luffy yelled, leaning forward, as the soldiers around him cocked their guns. It's no wonder Merry broke so early.

"Hold it right there!" Random soldier A yelled. "Wapol-sama is enjoying his meal!"

He was completely ignored. Luffy just stretched out his arm to punch the hippo idiot.

"That little twerp, now he's done it!" Random soldier B yelled out. "FIRE!"

Up above, I could see Zoro fling off his blanket, Sanji remove his scarf, and Usopp climbing out of range of the danger, like a lizard, a large brown lizard. Gunshots and rifles were firing left and right, and I think this is the first time they had a fight on board! FINALLY, I CAN WATCH THEM CLOSE UP~!

I spied Sanji kicking ass, Zoro slicing ass, Luffy punching ass, Usopp hiding his ass, Luffy getting his ass eaten and Vivi showing her ass up. OOOHHH! So nice to watch, this might actually be the most interesting thing to happen for the entire time since I arrived! It's such a small thing when compared to the actual show, but here, in real-life, it's the most interesting! I FINALLY CAN WATCH! Though it is VERY one-sided.

"Why you…!" Luffy shouted, from inside the hippo idiot's big fat mouth, his arms stretched far behind him and whipping back fast, connecting with the idiot chewing him and blasting him off. "GET LOST!"

The great Wapol-sama got blasted off, there was even that twinkling star signaling how far he flew off. How nice. Then the whole dumbass crew of Wapol's started retreating and panicking, but not with hurling a whole pile of threats and insults toward the Straw Hat crew.

"We will return for retribution!"

"REMEMBER US!"

"REMEMBER WELL!"

"PLEASE!"

"REMEMBER US!"

"Remember!"

"Remember us…"

"Remem… s…"

Their parting is still one of the lamest I remembered, second to Foxy's dumbass.

(Somewhere else, a certain splithead sneezed, then got depressed, sneezed again, and became even more depressed, sinking into the ground even more, just like the dumbass he is. But not before sneezing again, and getting depressed enough to be buried into the ground.)

"J-Just who the hell was that?" Usopp asked, pointing toward the shrinking-in-the-distance ship.

"Who cares?" Sanji said, flicking his ashes into the distance. "Just your run-of-the-mill idiot."

I couldn't agree with you more.

With nothing interesting anymore, I flew over to examine the damage hippo idiot did to Going Merry. It wasn't so bad; just surface damage, nothing crucial or internal. Sigh, this ship's going to die later. With the way they're handling her, it's no wonder.

I spied from the corner of my eye, Usopp hurrying to get nails, boards and stuff. Well, at least this ship will die happy.

_Hello…?_

Wha-

D-did I just hear that? I strained my non-existent ears to listen out for that voice again. It sure as hell isn't any of the crew's. Then whose-?

MERRY'S! It had to be! It is, right…?

_"Merry? Is that you?"_  I asked out loud, and I think that this is actually the first time I spoke out since I arrived. I waited for a bit, and another while, then I sighed. I guess I'm a little too overexcited.

_Hello…?_

There it is! That voice again! It is Merry for sure!

_"Merry! Are you there?"_  I asked staring at the wound on the ship. I think it's because of the damage on the ship that she starts to appear. That means that the ship could have died before it even reached Skypiea! OMG Seriously? Because if Merry actually appears so early, that means that the ship already had to be held together by her spirit since Alabasta! IT ACTUALLY MAKES PERFECT SENSE!

I waited, and waited some more.

_Merry…? Merry... I'm Merry…_

SHE REPLIED TO ME! Wait, she replied to me? Can she hear me?!

_"Merry! You can hear me?!"_  I shouted at the voice. Then waited for a reply. And waited again. Maybe she can't hear me too. Like everyone else on this ship. I suddenly felt so disheartened.

_Who… is this…?_

SHE CAN HEAR ME!

_"I'M ZENADELE! YOU CAN HEAR ME RIGHT?!"_  I yelled back, floating up into the air slightly. SOMEONE CAN HEAR ME! Even if she's not really a 'someone' per say.

_Zen…adele…?_

I FEEL SO HAPPY~~!

_"YEAH! Zenadele! Or ZENA!"_  I almost feel like crying. FINALLY SOMEONE ACKNOWLEDGES MY EXISTENCE!

_Zena…_

SOOO SOOO SOOO SOOO SOOO HAPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPY~!

_"Where are you?"_  I asked, looking around quickly. She's talking to me, but it's like talking to thin air, only that this air's talking back.

_I… don't have… a body… I'm a soul…_

Oh.

_"That's ok! I'm a spirit! Nice to meet you!"_  I said back to her. Well, I can sort of feel that she's sad that she's got no body, but that's alright! I've got someone to talk to!

_Nice… to meet you… too…_

I think this is the first person I'll ever get to talk to… Happy! Happy!

_I… I'll… We'll… talk again later… Can we…?_

Wha…?

_"SURE!"_  I yelled, slightly confused. Where's she going? I'm not even sure if she heard me; everything just went quiet, or as quiet as it could be on this ship.

Ok… Since we'll talk again later, then I should go back to my touch-something training…

Yeah, I should… I guess…

I floated back beside that mast, concentrated, pushed down all that excitement from today's fight and Merry's arrival, and concentrated hard, then reached forward, and failed again. There's a certain resistance, like sticky glue or thick honey, but I just can't seem to touch the wood.

Well then, if you don't succeed, try again.

And again.

* * *

**Reviews are like cookies.**

**They taste good,**

**feel good,**

**make you addicted to them**

**and encourage you to work faster.**


End file.
